WIGAN MEETING HOUSE

Meetings

Our meetings offer a place of welcome, encounter and spiritual exploration. If you are coming for the first time and the prospect of sitting in a circle in silence seems daunting, you may find it easier to remain in silent contemplation for a short time before reading a book. It’s fine to close your eyes, many Quakers do. You do not have to be a member to come along – we welcome anyone who wishes to come, including those who receive inspiration from other religions and beliefs.

The meeting is based around silence – but unlike solitary meditation it’s a shared experience of attentive listening in which worshippers seek to experience the sacred for themselves. For some, this may be an experience of a personal God. Others may describe their experience in terms such as Love or Spirit.

We sit in a circle to increase our awareness of one another and to remind us that we are all equal before God. We have no priests or ministers.

The silence may briefly be broken if someone feels called to say something that will deepen and enrich the worship. Anyone who feels strongly led to speak may do so.

We are an open and friendly group that meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at 11am. Our meeting house is at 76 Swinley Road, Wigan WN1 2DL. We are always willing to discuss our practice and answer your questions, and there is time to do this after meeting ends at 12.00. We never pressure you to make any kind of commitment.

All are welcome to attend our meetings and find out if (in the words of George Fox) they “answer to your condition”.

Wigan Local Meeting is part of Hardshaw & Mann Area Meeting which also includes Quaker Meetings across much of West Lancashire and the Isle of Man.